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What’s truly important to you when buying a new phone? Each year, phone makers release exciting new hardware, bigger screens, better cameras, fancy software features, and other junk that’s not worth the hype. There are a few non-negotiables, but there are also several features I don’t care about at all.
When I’m looking to buy a new phone, I usually already have a solid idea of what I’m looking for. Naturally, this will vary from person to person in terms of brand preference or loyalty, budget, and a few other things.
Considering how mature the phone market is in 2025, most mid-range or flagship phones will be fantastic. I just want a nice big screen, decent cameras, and solid software support. As a result, I usually ignore most of the hype or new features touted by brands, and you probably could too. These are the five I’m not worried about.
I Don’t Care About Wireless Charging
Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I actually used wireless charging on my phone—or even reverse wireless charging, for that matter. Sure, it’s a convenient little feature, but it’s not remotely important to me.
When the new Galaxy S25 series arrived and Samsung said they were “Qi2 ready,” people got excited. However, Samsungdidn’t put magnets inside the phones, which upset many fans. Wireless charging is getting better, faster, and easier to use, and Qi2 is the latest standard, which delivers faster charging speeds and magnets for easy alignment.
Whether you have a fancy new Galaxy S25 Ultra, the latest iPhone, or a Pixel 9 Pro, you probably have a wireless charging-compatible phone. A few years ago, the big hype was reverse wireless charging, where owners could recharge a smartwatch or wireless earbuds using their phone.
Sure, that’s cool and all, but it’s a niche feature for very specific situations that don’t apply to me. You might be a road warrior who’s always on the go or have a fancy wireless charging pad in your vehicle, but for me, they’re both unimportant, and I’d be happy to go without.
Anker 643 USB-C to USB-C Cable
Wireless charging isn’t needed when you have a good USB-C cable.
Wireless charging is still too slow on most models, too hot, and not convenient enough when I can toss my phone onto any USB-C cable at home or in my car and get a faster charge. I’ll gladly trade it for a 3.5mm headphone jack.
IP Ratings and Water Resistance
Having a phone that offers some level of water-resistance certainly gives you peace of mind, and back when it was the cool new thing, I bought into the hype. However, I don’t remember a time I’ve ever actually dropped my phone in the sink, in a pool, or done anything where that IP68 water-resistant rating would save me.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice thought, and I’d probably be more careful with my phone around the pool if it didn’t have some sort of rating, but it’s not a deal-breaker for me.
A prime example is the new OnePlus 13, the first phone in the U.S. with an IP69 rating. If you don’t knowhow these ratings work, IP69 offers the highest level of ingress protection from dust and water. Instead of IP68, which can handle specific depths for certain lengths of time, IP69 kicks that up a notch, and the phone is protected against high-pressure water.
If you ever leave your phone in the dishwasher, it should be safe—you know, because that happens all the time.
Fancy Front-Facing Cameras
The days of smartphones with awful front-facing cameras are long gone. I’m not one for selfies. I don’t use Snapchat, and on the rare occasion I video call friends or family, whatever front camera I’ve had for the last 5+ years has sufficed.
Whenever I make a video call, the bigger problem is connectivity or the lack of Wi-Fi, not how many megapixels the manufacturer slapped inside the front camera. Does my Samsung Galaxy need a 32MP front-facing camera for choppy video calls or the random selfie that’ll end up on Facebook or Insta? Not really.
Don’t get me wrong—I want it to be decent, but I never even look at the front camera specs when shopping for a new phone. That could also be because I’m not buying budget models, so I have nothing to worry about. Talk to me when the camera can hide under the display and still be usable.
Wild Amounts of Storage
These days, many phones come with the option to upgrade to 1TB of storage, which is just wild to me. Who uses that much space? Do you really have 700GB of photos and video, or need 200 apps on your phone?
It’s a hot take, but if you have a 256GB or even a 512GB phone and you’re running out of storage, the phone isn’t the problem; you are.Delete all those iMessagesfrom 10 years ago, practice digital cleanliness, and delete all those duplicate photos and videosas you take them, not two years later when you’re trying to upgrade.
I’m glad 64GB is no longer the default, but I also don’t need excessive storage on my phone. I have a 256GB Galaxy S25+, and that’s more than enough. I keep things clean, delete junk, and only have the apps I need. I also use Google Photos as a backup. iCloud and Google Photos are great storage options instead of buying an expensive 1TB phone. Just be careful and keep things organized; otherwise, you’ll need to work hard tofree up iCloud space, too.
Battery Size
While phones have improved dramatically over the last decade or so in almost every category, the battery is still pretty stagnant. Sure, we’re seeing phones with fancy new silicon carbide batteries, but a phone with a massive battery isn’t important to me.
Personally, battery life is a non-issue for me these days. Almost every half-decent phone that I’ll buy will have a battery that’s good enough to last all day. And, if it gets a little low, faster charging technology is here to save the day. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want a 2,400 mAh battery in an iPhone 17 Pro or flagship Galaxy phone, but I don’t need to pay more for something wild or have a fat unwieldy phone like the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Whether it was my old Pixel, the Galaxy S10+, my aging Galaxy S21 Ultra, or the new Galaxy S25+ I use today, battery life isn’t an issue. Most phones easily last an entire day, and a quick 15-minute drive in the car while charging over USB-C will give me enough juice to last until tomorrow.
With most phones delivering solid battery life, fast charging technology, and cheap portable chargers that are a dime a dozen on Amazon, I’d rather phone makers focus on other areas instead of becoming too big and heavy due to a massive battery cell.
Again, everyone has different wants or preferences, but these are a few things I don’t care about when looking for a new phone. Give me a beautiful screen, fast performance, solid rear cameras, and good software support, and I’m set. All the fluff and fancy new goodies aren’t all that important, and I have a feeling a lot of you would agree.
There’s a reason Ikept my Galaxy S21 Ultra with 128GB of storage for so long. I didn’t need any of the features being hyped by each new generation. It still has a stunning screen, great cameras, lasts all day, and runs great. Sure, storage was starting to almost become an issue, but nothing I couldn’t handle, and soon it’ll stop getting software updates and new versions of Android. That’s more important to me than water resistance or wireless charging.
